Though Native Americans
lived in the area as early as the 13th century, the first European
sighting of the canyon wasn't until 1540, by members of an expedition
headed by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Because of
its remote and inaccessible location, several centuries passed before
North American settlers really explored the canyon. In 1869, geologist
John Wesley Powell led a group of 10 men in the first difficult journey
down the rapids of the Colorado River and along the length of the 277-mile gorge in four rowboats.

By the end of the 19th century, the Grand Canyon was attracting
thousands of tourists each year. One famous visitor was President
Theodore Roosevelt, a New Yorker with a particular affection for the
American West. After becoming president in 1901 after the assassination
of President William McKinley,
Roosevelt made environmental conservation a major part of his
presidency. After establishing the National Wildlife Refuge to protect
the country's animals, fish and birds, Roosevelt turned his attention to
federal regulation of public lands. Though a region could be given
national park status--indicating that all private development on that
land was illegal--only by an act of Congress, Roosevelt cut down on red
tape by beginning a new presidential practice of granting a similar
"national monument" designation to some of the West's greatest
treasures.

In January 1908, Roosevelt exercised this right to make more than
800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon area into a national monument. "Let
this great wonder of nature remain as it now is," he declared. "You
cannot improve on it. But what you can do is keep it for your children,
your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great
sight which every American should see."

Congress did not officially outlaw private development in the Grand Canyon until 1919, when President Woodrow Wilson
signed the Grand Canyon National Park Act. Today, more than 5 million
people visit the canyon each year. The canyon floor is accessible by
foot, mule or boat, and whitewater rafting, hiking and running in the
area are especially popular. Many choose to conserve their energies and
simply take in the breathtaking view from the canyon's South Rim--some
7,000 feet above sea level--and marvel at a vista virtually unchanged
for over 400 years.